To Haiti...

On Monday February 8th I left Garden Valley Texas and headed to DFW airport with two others from Mercy Works. We had 11 suitcases to check between the 3 of us. Too many. They were not going to charge overweight but would charge for the extra 5 cases. So we frantically opened up suitcases/bags and tried to consolidate. We ended up only leaving 2 cases with not so much left in them, behind. I only had a backpack with me as carry on so ended up taking one of the smaller cases on the plane with me too. So much for traveling light. One for the team. :) I met the pediatrician on our team at DFW and it was great to meet a doctor on the team, and realize I was not the only one unsure of what would await us medically.

We flew to Puerto Rico where we met up with more people. And after a couple of hours there we flew on to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We arrived there at 10:20pm but had to wait for others arriving. Unfortunately they were delayed so we ended up at the airport till just before 2am! We then drove to YWAM DR and hung out for 2 hours.

At 4 am we got on the bus and started our drive to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We arrived at the border at 8:30am. We drove right through, with no passport check. It was surreal being in Haiti. Seeing the people, the flag waving in the wind, the tap tap buses, everything. We had another 2 hour drive to the orphanage we are staying at. Due to very heavy traffic we by-passed the center of town and drove around the outskirts. As we neared the city we saw more damage. It was hard to take in. Seeing the tent cities was moving. Here I was being worried about being out of my comfort zone (medically) yet all these people have had their lives turned upside down and are living way out of there comfort zone. It was humbling to think about.

At the place we are staying there is an orphanage and they also have a post-op ward for children recovering from earthquake wounds, sent here by the US Comfort ship. A number of children with femur fractures (some bilaterally!) and some with amputations. They are a joy to be around. Full of smiles and laughter. They are amazing! There is an older girl with an amputation who lost both of her parents in the earthquake. I think she literally saw the house collapse on them. So much hurt. There is another baby, who is very small, who lost his mother in the earthquake and his granny is unable to take care of him. So he is here for now. And finally starting to feed better and gain some weight...little Jean.

We are all sleeping in tents on the grounds here and that has worked out fine. We do have electricity a lot of the time and some running water. A toilet and bucket shower. Work wise things were still up in the air in the beginning...more on that...

Done packing...

Packing is finished.

I have a 14.5 kg bag with my personal items.

And a 22 kg suitcase with medical supplies.

Haiti here I come.

Unfortunately I was not able to buy huge amounts of medication/ORS.

Not yet.

Although I did buy some.

But as soon as I know what I need, I am contacting a pediatrician in Tyler.

And he is going to place an order for meds that will hopefully be sent out next week.

Please pray that this is possible!

I was hoping to bring more medication now but it is hard to procure when uncertain of the situation/needs.

Please pray for a safe journey for our team.

I think 5 of us fly out of Dallas and we will meet the rest of the team in the D.R.

Pray that all of our luggage arrives safely.

Pray for unity.

Pray for health.

Pray for guidance as we figure out who is doing what & working where.

Pray for wisdom as we work.

He is our strength.

It is His work and we are His people.

I'm ready to let Him use me.

Mercy Works...

On Monday I am flying via Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic to then take a bus to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I am going with YWAM Tyler's team called 'Mercy Works'. Mercy Works has been sending medical teams into Haiti every Monday since the January 12th earthquake. It is a privilege to be able to join one of their teams. And I am praying I will find a good fit to use my skills at one of their locations in Port-au-Prince. To read more about Mercy Works please go to: http://mercyworks.org

I would appreciate your prayers during the three weeks I will be in Haiti. Please pray for wisdom, strength, health, safety, provision, courage, confidence, patience, etc. Thank you in advance.

I am not sure if I will be able to communicate once in Haiti- but I will try. Keep an eye on this blog.

Happy 8th...

Today is Joshua David's 8th birthday.

The above photo was taken 2 years ago.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

I hope you have a wonderful day with your SOS family.

Wish I could celebrate with you!

You are in my thoughts and prayers on this special day.

Middelburg helps...

After arriving in the USA I was very excited to hear from my sister and a good friend that the fundraising events for Haiti that took place at two of the elementary schools in Middelburg are going to be directed towards my Haiti trip. Wow! I was very surprised to hear all that took place while I was in the air.

On Wednesday, my sister talked to the principal of one of the schools (where my niece Zoey attends) to see if the money raised on Thursday could be donated to my trip and the supplies I planned to buy for Haiti, rather than putting it in the general Dutch Giro555 account for Haiti. The principal agreed and apparently the teachers and students alike were very excited. It sounds like my sister and my friend were very busy on Wednesday printing off flyers, hanging up posters, and trying to get the town geared up for this fundraiser. "Help Sandra Help" was the slogan. I think I was happy to be gone with all the attention focussed on me going to Haiti but am so thankful for their involvement. I just don't like the spotlight.

On Thursday, the elementary school children brought toys, books etc. from home that they would then sell during the fundraiser in school. I suppose it was kind of like a garage sale. They also baked cookies and cakes and sold those. And some of the staff provided coffee, lemonade and cake. Parents, grandparents and children came to the event, buying treats and things, in order to raise money for Haiti. It sounds like it was a great success with lots of enthusiastic attendees. My niece Zoey baked cookies to sell for her aunt as well. How sweet! And many children also put money into a big donation box, also for Haiti.

I was very amazed to hear of all that took place. And I heard about it all through facebook initially, because by the time I was in the USA with internet access again, Holland was already fast asleep. I marveled at the event, loved seeing the pictures and felt so supported by family and friends back home. It is a privilege to accept the money raised and use it to help those in Haiti.

Once I get back to Holland it sounds like I will be busy with presentations in both of the schools as well as an interview with the provincial newspaper. I'm hoping to be able to bring back good reports of my time in Haiti and stories of lives changed.

Bedankt Mariska & Geralda voor jullie inzet, en iedereen die verder heeft geholpen. En natuurlijk ook Zoey, Max en Tim... voor het verkopen, kopen en doneren!

Earthquake affected areas...

This picture attempts to quantify the impact of the earthquake on Haiti.

I suppose it probably does a good job at it, but these remain numbers.

Can you imagine what it is really like on the ground?

What the actual impact of these numbers are?

I can't. Not yet.

Let's continue to remember Haiti.

Waiting...

A post from the plane.

I suppose one of the main things one does while traveling is WAIT. Waiting to check-in, waiting to go through security, waiting in the departure hall, waiting in line to board the plane, waiting for the plane to take off. As you most likely know, there is a lot of waiting involved. Of course, while waiting, there are things to do: read, write, type, walk around, browse in shops, visits to the restroom, sit in a cafe; enough to keep one at least semi-occupied.

Well, during one of my restroom visits I saw a sign on the back of the bathroom door which when translated said: “A country that already had very little, has now lost everything. Help Haiti.” As I read that sign, I thought, “Great, they are raising awareness and money for Haiti. What a great idea to post these signs in the bathroom.” And then, suddenly my trip became a reality. Here I am, going to Haiti. I am going to that country, that country that had so little and now has next to nothing. I am traveling to that country. I am going there to help. Going to a country that I have been following on the news for 22 days now, a country with so much devastation, a country with so many aid workers. I felt a bit overwhelmed as I was trying to imagine driving into Haiti – seeing the devastation, mingling (or getting lost) in the world of aid workers and NGO’s, experiencing the great need for medical care. I still cannot imagine it. I try to prepare myself mentally, but feel that no matter how hard I try; I will still be shocked. Shocked at how a country lost so much. But thankfully, Haiti has not lost everything. God is there. And by His grace, I am going to do my part, play a teeny tiny role in the big picture, reaching out one person at a time.

Last minute packing...

Tuesday. The beginning of a journey. First stop USA, then in a few days, Haiti.

1 pm. Immunizations: check. Start Mefloquine: check. Travel documents: check. Bag packed: almost. I was scheduled to leave the house at 5:30 pm. I had plenty of time left, however, I was still waiting for some more supplies that a friend was going to send my way and so was not quite done packing. I had to wait for those supplies to arrive, so, in the meantime, I went to my sister’s house.

4 pm. My friend called again. He had collected a few boxes of supplies and was sending them my way. He was hoping to send them by ambulance, but the ambulances were too busy (of course!) and so the supplies came with a courier service instead. Since I was only taking 1 bag of my own, I was wondering how I would manage to take ‘boxes of supplies’.

4:45 pm. The supplies showed up. 3 boxes and 2 bags. Wow, and my bag was fairly full already. Weight wise I had room for 6 more kilos, but space wise knew I could not take it all. It was time to start sorting and prioritizing. One box was full of operating room gowns & masks so I decided to leave those. After all, I would be working in a clinic, in scrubs for the most part. Another box was full of non-sterile 4x4 gauze; these too would stay behind. Then came a bag with sutures, iv cannulas and iv giving sets. Assuming these would be very useful, I stuffed them into my bag. Next I spotted the flacons of lidocaine 1-2%, another item we were sure to need. Into a Ziploc bag they went, making their way into my full and now very unorganized hiking pack. I continued sorting: drains, catheters, dressings, gloves & other items followed.

5:20 pm. Ten minutes to go before being picked up by my brother-in-law. I called and asked if he could come 15 minutes later; I still had some packing to do! I continued looking through the supplies. I decided to take some instruments for suturing and filled up a Ziploc bag with them. I then took some random sizes of gloves and sterile gauze and fit them into the small spaces left in my bag. There were other odds and ends I took as well, but to be honest, I can’t even tell you what they are; things were a bit crazy as I was scrambling around trying to get packed and out the door.

5:45 pm. My brother-in-law arrived. I was almost done. I slipped a large blue cover over my hiking pack and realized that I could stuff things into that. I filled up a plastic bag of gloves and pushed the bag into the case and they came to rest alongside my hiking pack. I then did the same with a box of dressings. And that was it. Done. The rest would have to stay behind. I weighed in my bag at 21 kilograms. Perfect. I was good to go.

5:55 pm. With the luggage in the car, my brother-in-law and I drove away. And that is how the journey to Haiti began.

[a night in Brussels, a flight to Dallas via Chicago, a drive to Van, and then on the 8^th the actual trip to Haiti]